Metal awning construction



June 23, 1953 .1. J. HuT'roN METAL AWNING CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Oct. 23, 1950 June 23, 1953 J. J. HUTTON METAL AWNING CONSTRUCTION Filed oct. 23, 195o 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 'JMW Jie-idw Ma@ ATTORNEYS' Patented June 23, 1953 TENT OFFICE METAL AWNING CONSTRUCTION l.mm J. Hutton, Ashland, Ky. i

Application October 23, 1950, Serial No. 191,601

This invention relates to metal awnings.

The roofs of sheet metal awnings are conventionally crimped to form alternating rectangular elevations and rectangular valleys, running up and down, these corrugations primarily aiiording reinforcement, the under sides of the elevations also providing ventilation, while the upper sides of the Valleys serve for drainage. The striping effect presented by the rectangularvcorrugations should, for the sake of appearance, be symmetrically distributed with respect to the longitudinal middle of the roof, and it is possible to do this with stock-*width awnings but there is no standard width for window openings, so that in many instances it is necessary to tailor the awning to the particular width measurementsof win-` dows. According to applicants knowledge and belief, under the present conventional method or constructing sheet metal awnings, it is lnot possible to have the striping symmetrical for any widths of awnings when they deviate from the comparatively few prefabricated sizes.

y The present invention provides a metal awning construction in which the roof, including the front, which is the fore part of the roof sheet, is a ,single piece of sheet metal separate from allthe otherelements of the awning, which may be cut to any desired width, and individually crimped in a suitable brake to produce symmetrical. striping irrespective of the widthiof the roof. This makes it possible for the iurnisher of metal awnings to haveon hand a stock of standard parts, the size of which is invariable regardless of the width of windows, and to fabricate these with a roof and front panel tailored to the particular window. i "1 The' present invention has for its general object toprovide a metal awning construction which lends itself to the formation of the symmetrically rectangular crimped roof and front panel, independently ofthe rest of the awning structure, the front panel being formed and the ventilating'louvers being created by transversely slitting the rectangular crimped sheet through theelevations Vdown to the plane of the vbottoms oi the valleys, and bending the'sheet on the line defined by the bottoms of the slits. 'i A l lAnother object of the invention is to provide al structural frame member within the awning at the base of the roof which acts as a baille to prevent rain from blowing inward through the Ventilating slots between the rooi` and front panel.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a header at the top of the roof, providing reverse channels of rectangular cross-sec- 3 Claims. (Cl. 2li-57.5)

tion, in one of which the upper edge of the crimped roof nts, the tops of the elevations being secured to the upper liange of said channel and the bottoms of the elevations being secured to the lower iiange, the securing points being thus separated in depth direction, resulting in greater rigidity than if they were in single linearrela` tionship, the remaining flange of the reverse channel contributing structural rigidity to the header. I.

A further object of the invention is' to provide roof supporting channel members contiguous lto the lateral edge flanges vof the roof, forming therewith narrow spaces for snugly receiving the upper edge margins ofthe sides.

- Another object oi the invention is to provide a main supporting member of channel shaped crosssection about thefinner periphery of the awning, secured to the front panel and sides, the front of which is the baille above referred to, the same being provided withV adjustable end extensions or hangers for securing the awningto the sides of the window frame. f

Other Iobjects of the invention will appear as the following description of a preferred and practical embodiment thereof proceeds. l

In Y the drawings, throughout the iigures of which the same reference characters have been used to denote identical parts:

Figure 1 is a perspective View of a metal awning embodying the principles of the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-section taken along the line 2 2 of Figure 1;

Figure is a vertioalsection taken along the line 3-3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view in vertical section, taken along the line l-t of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a similar section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 3.

Referring now in detail to the several figures, the numeral I represents as a whole the roof sheet which is formed with alternate elevations 2 and 3,' with intervening valleys 1l and 5. These elevations and valleys are preferably rectangular in cross-section for maximum strength. The roofsheet is integral with the iront panel 6; and the corrugations of the roof sheet continuev on to the front panel.

The front panel t is formedv by slitting the elevations 2 and 3 down to the pla-ne of the bottoms of the valleys c and 5, and bending the front panel downward about a line oi kfold coin-v ciding with the bottoms of the slits. The end elevations 2 terminate laterally a short distance from the sides of the roof, leaving a lateral margin 1, which is on a level with the bottoms of the valleys, and the roof sheet including the front panel, terminates laterally on both sides in the down turned flanges 8, which lap at the angle of bend, as indicated at 9. In the awning which is used by way of example in the drawings, the extreme elevations 2 are wider than the mean elevations 3, but this is solely a matter of choice. It is important that the arrangement of elevations and valleys be symmetrical with respect to the medial vertical plane lying parallel to the corrugations, for the sake of the stripe pattern created by the elevations and valleys. By making the roof and front panel sheet separate from the rest of the awning, it is possible to make this part to order of a proper width to flt the window, and to associate it with standard parts which compose the rest of the awning, and the size of which is not affected by variations inwindow width. In making the combined roof and front panel, the width of the window opening is rst ascertained, and then it is worked out mathematically how much sheet material must be used to make a roof of this width, having the desired number and size of the elevations and valleys, lateral margins, and terminal anges. Then the several folds necessary to produce'the corrugations, etc., are made on a simple brake.

Folding of the sheet to dispose the front panel 6 at an angle to the roof creates the louvers 9 and I in the elevations, respectively in the roof and in the front panel. These louvers serve as Ventilating openings for relieving the inside or" the awning' from heated air which otherwise would collect thereunder and prevent adequate ventilation from the window. However, it is obvious that these louvers give access to rain, which if it were beating toward the face of the window, would enter the louvers on a slant and blow into the window. To prevent this, the louvers are backed by the baiile I I, part of which is visible in each of the louvers in Figure 1. Since this baille is part of one of the main structural elements of the awning, it will be referred to later on.

The sides I 2 are flat sheet members which have vertical struck out vanes I3, leaving vertical louvers I4 which provide additional ventilation for the interior of the awning. The vanes I3 shield the louvers iii against entrance of rain. The sloping upper edges of the sides I2 are tted and secured in a manner which will presently be described.

Referring new to Figures 3, 4 and 5, one of the principal structural members of the awning is the channel member i5 which is a three-sided rectangular frame of which the baille II hitherto mentioned, is the front, The sides are sectional, comprising sections I6 which are integral with the baiile Il, and adjustable sections I5 forming hangers by means of which the lower part of the awning is secured to the window frame. In Figure 3 the window frame is indicated at I1. The part of the channel member I5 constituting the baille II and section i6 is of rectangular cross-section throughout, the crosssection being indicated at a toward the right in Figure'B, consisting of the top and bottom flanges I8 and I9 and web 2G, and a downturned flange 2| for added rigidity. The sides of the awning are secured to the sectional sides of the member I5 after the latter have been adjusted for length, by means of the sheet metal screws 22, and the front panel 6 is likewise secured to the baille II byscrews inserted through the bottoms of the valleys 4 of the front panel. The anges of the channel member I5 lap at the corners, being secured by` the screws 33. The adjustable sections I8 each consists of a web 24, which resti; slidably against the web 20, an upper flange 25. which nts within the flange 2 I, and a lower flange 26 which slides upon the lower flange I9, and when the proper adjustment has been secured, is Xed by means of the sheet metal screws 21. The inner end of the extensions I6 are bent at right angles with the upper and lower flanges, overlapping in the corners, and secured to the window frameAI'I by the screws 21'.

While the channel member I5 is shown as being integral throughout the length of the front, in Figure 5, the front may be in separate parts lapped so as to make it adjustable in width to compensate for different widths of roof panel.

The ends of the awning are reinforced bythe channel members 28, which extend from the front panel 6 substantially to the upper edge of the roof. The web 29 of each of said channel members is in surface contact with the under sident a lateral margin 1 of the roof, with the outer ange 30 of said channel member slightly 'spaced' from the side flange 8 of the roof, so as toprovide a narrow crack or pocket in which the-upper edge of the side I2 of the awning is received. Screws 3l pass through the flange 8the side of the awning I2 and the outer ange 30 of the channel member 23, securing these parts t0- gether. Screws 32 secure the channel member 28 to the lateral margin 1 of the roof. The inner ange 33 of the channel member 28 slightly laps the downturned flange 2| of the channel member I5 at its lower end, the two parts being secured by the screw 34, (see Figure 3). At its upper end the inner flange 33 is slittedy depthwise, the portion 35 above said slit being turned out to lie in the same plane as'the bottoms 35 of the valleys Il and 5.

The awning is provided with a header 36, which extends widthwise of they awning at the top, between the outer flanges 30 vof the channel members 28. Said header in cross-section has the shape of reversely facing channels. Referring to Figure 3, the upper channel is defined between the upper flange 31 and the intermediate flange 38 the Vlower channel being den'ed between said intermediate flange and a shortl reversely turned ange 39. is Vthe one of greatest functional importance. The header is slipped over the crimped roofpanel, the latteri'ltting within the upper channel, the elevations and valleys being closed at their upper ends by the web 40V of said channel. This prevents rain from driving over the top edge of the roof into the awning. The tops of the elevations are secured to the upper iiange 31, .by means of screws 4I. The bottoms of the valleys are secured to the intermediate ange 38 by meansv of screws 42. The placing of these securing mean-sat different depth levels enhances the rigidity of the construction to a much greater degree than if the header were secured to the roof solely by means lying in a single transverse lineV with no depth characteristics. The end portions of the intermediate flange v38 lie against the under faces ofthe outturned portions 35 of the channel members 28, and are supported thereby. l. f Hangers 43, one at each side, are secured to the intermediate flange 38 by the screws '44, and

to the top member of the window frame.Y

The upper channel In order to finish the awning, the caulking pan 46 is secured to the top of the roof by means of screws 4l through the tops of the extreme elevations, at such height as to butt against the top of the window frame or adjacent wall of the building. Said caulking pan has an intermediate at portion 43 terminating in a downwardly directed rain shed 49, which touches the tops of the elevations, and at its top terminating in a downwardly inclined narrow ange 50, which deines with the wall of the building a channel in which caulking putty may be placed to form a weathertight seal between the awning and building.

It will be understood by those Iskilled in the art that the dependence of the roof and front panel with respect to the other elements-which go to make up the awning, make it possible to tailor the roof to the width of the Window, making the pattern effect presented by the parallel elevations and valleys symmetrical with respect to the middle of the roof, and enabling the awning furnisher to carry a stock of the other parts ready-made, since these are invariable in size with respect to the width of the window. It will be also obvious that I have produced a structure from relatively thin sheet metal which has maximum rigidity and strength, enabling it to withstand the most intense winds or heavy snow or ice falls, without bending or other distortion. While the illustrated embodiment as described is believed to be the optimum form of the invention, it is within the purview of the invention to make such changes in the construction and arrangement of parts as the scope of the invention permits, as defined by the claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Metal awning comprising'an integral roof and front panel, formed with parallel alternating elevations and valleys of rectangular crosssection, said elevations being cut through transversely to the plane of the bottoms of the valleys, said front panel being bent down relative to said roof on a line at the base of the cut forming open louvers between said roof and front panel, a rectangular three-sided frame having front and side members, said frame being of channel cross-section with its web on the outside, the web of the front member contacting the bottoms of the valleys of said front panel being secured thereto, and bridging the troughs of the inner sides of the elevations of said front panel in rain baling relation to said louvers.

2. Metal awning comprising an integral roof and front panel, formed with parallel alternating elevations and valleys of rectangular crosssection, said elevations being cut through transversely to the plane of the bottoms of said valleys, said front panel being bent down relative to said roof on a line at the base of the cut forming open louvers between said roof and front panel, said roof terminating in lateral margins in the plane of the bottoms of said valleys, and having lateral flanges turned down perpendicularly from said margins, channel members of rectangular cross-section one at each side within said awning following the slope of the roof,

each having its web against the corresponding roof margin and secured thereto, and having its outer flange parallel to and slightly spaced from the turned down roof flange, a rectangular threesided frame having front and side members, said frame being of channel cross-section with its web on the outside, the web of the front member contacting the bottoms of the valleys of said front panel and being secured thereto, and bridging the troughs of the inner sides of the elevations of said front panel in rain baiiiing relation to said louvers, side members one at each side of said awning each having a sloping edge portion corresponding to the roof pitch, said edge portion being inserted within the space between the outer ange of the corresponding channel member and the adjacent turned down roof flange, securing means passing through said outer flange, said side member and said turned down roof iiange, and means securing said side members to the respective side members of said three-sided frame.

3. Metal awning comprising an integral roof and front panel, formed with parallel alternating elevations and valleys of rectangular crosssection, the tops of the elevations and the bottoms of the valleys lying respectively in common spaced parallel planes, said elevations vbeing cut through transversely to the plane ofthe bottoms cf the valleys, said front panel being bent down relative to said roof on a line at the base of the cut forming open louvers between said roof and front panel, a rectangular three-sided frame having front and side members, said frame being of channel cross-section with its web on the outside, the web of the front member contacting the bottoms of the valleys cf said front panel being secured thereto, and bridging the tops of the inner sides of the elevations 0f said front panel in rain baiiiing relation to said louvers, a header comprising a member of S-shaped cross-section extending transversely of said roof at the top dening reversely directed rectangular channels, the upper channel enclosing the ends of said elevations and valleys, having a web against which the upper end of said roof panel abuts, and having upper and lower anges in surface contact respectively with the tops of the elevations and the bottoms of the valleys, and respectively secured thereto, the web of said lower channel constituting a reinforcement for said header.

JOHN J. HUTTON.

References Citedk in the file of this patent Ciciarelli Mar. 27, 1951 

